 The Johnson Central Golden Eagles are entering their 15th year under the leadership of head coach Jim Matney. The Golden Eagles are looking to give back to the Class 4A State Football Championship game for the fourth consecutive year. The amount of success the program has had over the last decade and a half, there's high expectations from the fan base. You know, for the last several years there's been high expectations, but with that brings a lot of spirit and a lot of great support in your community. It's amazing. I would not want to play anywhere else. We have the best fans in the world, best coach and staff, they make it easy for us. We work hard, we get the job done out here. It's awesome. I see all the fans in the stands and it's great. It's the best feeling ever. Great. It feels just like a family and not just a team, it's like these are my brothers and proud to wear the Johnson Central uniform. In 2016, Johnson Central throttled Franklin Simpson for his first ever State Football Championship, however, Franklin Simpson returned the favor last year. Very few teams in the history of the state, as a county team, has been to the state championship four years in a row and we would like to be one of those few. You know, I think more than anything, we were a little bit overconfident because we had played in the year before and you know, I think that as an athlete and as a coach that you have to learn to respect your opponent and one of the first rules I learned as an athlete is never ever underestimate an opponent. I think, you know, we weren't very well prepared for that game. Nobody was. Nobody's mind was right and I think my freshman year, it was so easy. I think we thought, you know, we were going to come in and steam roll them again and that wasn't the case. So hopefully this year we can come out and win. We're real hungry, like, especially winning one already. It just makes you hungry for more and want to go back and get another one. We came up a little short. Franklin Simpson was really prepared, so we're just looking to prepare even better this year and make it back again. I just want to go back and we're going to be real focused this time. That's not going to happen again. It just starts with out here practicing, practice hard, play hard and win. The Golden Eagles are no longer under the radar as they have posted a record of 145 wins and 34 losses under Matney, including an impressive 60 and 8 record the last five years. I think it's a good thing. It's a bad thing. You know, as a young coach, I experienced what it was like to be the underdog almost every game and nobody looked for you and really it enabled us to slip in and have some great upsets when we were flying off the radar. When I first came here, I think we were still off the radar and we were able to upset quite a few teams that just didn't expect it. Now there's not really upsets. I mean, you have to go into every game and of course everybody's looking to upset you. I mean, really just stay focused, practice the main part. You always have kids that kind of slack off. We just got to keep our heads on straight. I mean, really keep that state championship in mind. We've got the caliper team to do it, so we come out here. We work hard Monday through Thursday to get ready for Friday. I mean, once Friday comes, we're ready to knock some heads out here. I mean, it's just Johnson Central football. From Painesville with EKB Sports, I'm Joe Kinzer.